I Left My Heart Rio
by Tashana Ambrosia
Summary: This is a sequel to "Ticket to Berlin" and follows that story line. Someone looking for Dom's family... As the family struggles with the loss of one of their own and how their past choices have determined their futures. Not for the faint of heart, this will contain violence, adult situations and adult language.
1. Chapter 1

**Authoress Notes:** This is a sequel to **Ticket to Berlin** it has been in the works for no joke three years. I am terrified about putting this story out there. I have beat my head against my desk doing edits and hacked it to pieces and attempted to make this story as a strong as its predecessor. What do you really say about a story you had to walk away from for so long because you couldn't bear to write about a character that could never exist again…. This is a labor of love story and it will continue to be as I work through it with you all. There are major spoilers ahead. I am a huge fan of the series and I really did enjoy this last movie. I cried at the end of Furious 7…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Fast and Furious" or any of the characters within. I make no money off this so please do not sue me. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.

**Warnings:** This story **does not** maintain the cannon story line after **Fast 5.** This is a sequel to **Ticket to Berlin**. This follows the events of **Ticket to Berlin** and if you have not read that piece some of this story will not make sense.

**I Left My Heart in Rio: Part One  
**

**November 11, Tokyo, Japan: 10:00pm**

The tires of the muscle car screamed in protest as the Plymouth Satellite started into the corner at an impossible angle for the size of the muscle car. The Silvia cut to the inside lane taking the drift tighter because of its better handling. The high school student cringed waiting for the inevitable crunch of metal as the older car failed to take the corner, but it never came. He glanced back at the at the American beast that had to be from the 70's if he were to take a guess and the driver that looked completely calm doing the unthinkable in that car. They sailed in synch past the crowd, the silver colored car nearly brushing the wall, but missing it by a faction of inch, just like DK had the first time he had attempted to drift. Hanging onto a muscle car in a drift was not an easy, the race on the mountain had nearly killed him, and yet here was this guy making it look simple. The crowd gasped as he lost the lead to the bigger car in the stretch between turns, but he knew he'd get it back in the corner.

Sean knew his car was made for drifting so he had the advantage and he could hear a whine in the engine of the muscle car. Disuse: the identification of that whine was clicked in his head as he took the turn and regained the lead. His opponent was very good, but Sean knew this 'track' and as long he hit this last corner first the race was his. The muscle car edged forward to take the lead, but at the last second it fell back. Sean wasn't sure what the issue with the car was, but he wasn't going to let the advantage slip out of his fingers. He shifted gears and his car jumped forward into the corner sliding in a perfect parallel line to the parking structure's climb. The Plymouth was inches from him and the driver gave him a nod as they finished the ascent side by side.

He kicked his Silvia out of the corner and glided to the front of the crowd, which was already celebrating his victory. Sean took a deep breath before getting out of the car and plastering a smile on his face for his friends and his girl. Neela threw her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug.

"You did great." She whispered in his ear. "I thought you gonna lose there for a second."

He nodded in response and looked over her shoulder at his opponent, who was climbing out of his car.

She pulled back from their embrace as he remained silent, confusion on her face, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head and pulled away from her, "Nothin' its fine." He flashed her a smile, that didn't reach his eyes, "We'll talk later, alright?"

Neela squeezed his hand, before walking back to Reiko and their other friends, as the large man paced over to him.

"Nice job, kid. I can tell Han taught you. You have the same pull to the left that took him forever to shake." He extended his hand to Sean. "Dom."

"Sean." He shook Dom's hand. "So you knew Han?"

Dom's expression darkened, "He was a brother to me."

"Yo, Sean, come on man! We got a party to host!" Twinkie hollered out from the crowd.

"Sorry, 'bout that." Sean apologized to Dom, before yelling back to his friend, "Twink, just go get everything started without me and make sure Neela gets there safe." He nodded to the girl in the red dress, who rolled her eyes as his protective nature.

"I can see why Han let you ride with him. You don't quit."

"You can tell them from one conversation with me?" Sean was confused.

"No, I can tell by how you drive." Dom looked over Sean's car. "And what you choose to drive."

"Why'd you let me win?" Sean lowered his voice enough that Dom was the only one that could hear him.

Dom smirked, "Rude to beat someone on their own turf, especially since you just earned it. I'm just here to get Han home, but I need some information."

Sean nodded. "Yeah, I kinda figured it was somethin' like that. Follow me back to the garage, so we can talk."

Dom nodded and they climbed into their respective cars. Sean kept his eyes on the rearview mirror, not missing the blue Skyline that fell in line behind Dom's car and kept up with them.

.:.

Brian tapped his fingers on the steering wheel waiting for Dom to give the all clear signal. After the kid left, the lights throughout the building went on, one after the other until the building looked alive with light. The roll door opened and Dom waved him inside nonchalantly. Brian parked the car and climbed out giving the new-to-him car an affection pat.

"You ever gonna last more than five seconds on a continent without picking up one of those toys?" Dom arched his eyebrow at his brother-in-law.

"Toy?!" Brian scoffed, "You remember calling it a toy, when I beat you in one."

"Ha." Dom closed the roll door and pulled out his cellphone. "Letty, we're at Han's place. Call me when you get this."

"Straight to voicemail?" Brian questioned and Dom just nodded in response. "So did the kid have any ideas on what happened to Han?"

"He said they were running from someone, but that is was just a fluke wreck." Dom lifted shifted through papers that were on the desk listlessly.

"Like a semi-truck after beating a train." Brian quipped before instantly regretting it. Dom did not look impressed with the throwback. "Sorry man, the jet-leg isn't doing my brain any favors. Mia e-mailed me the police reports that she got pretending to be a reporter, which reminds me she's getting too good at this con thing." He flicked through the documents on his phone and shook his head, "Anyway, these look consistent with an accident."

Dom made an annoyed sound, and paced around the shop opening drawers and cabinets methodically but with zero regard for the amount of noise he was creating.

Brian started at the opposite end of the shop, when he got to his third drawer in an older cabinet, he stopped. The drawer was full of unopened packs of cigarettes. There must have been over a hundred packs of varying brands and ages. They were lined up in perfect lines in alphabetical order. He shook his head and pushed the packs back and forth to see if there was anything hiding under them. He grabbed an older envelope, which had multiple fold lines decorating it, and opened the flap. The envelope contained a piece of paper with elegant handwriting, "I can't express how sorry I am for this. I loved our life. Find your happiness. Maybe I'll find you again one day. If you'll have me." and a faded picture of Han and Gisele that looked like it had been torn in half. He remembered Mia taking the picture of them at their move-in party at his home in Azores, Dom and Elena had been in this shot before.

"Find anything?" Dom barked.

"Just a picture and a note from Gisele." He held up it up, "I'm assuming it's the one that she left for him right after we got Letty back."

Dom pulled his keys out of his pocket and snarled, "Damn waste of time coming here. Toss that shit, let's go home."

Brian put the note and the picture, back into the envelope and shoved it into his back pocket. It seemed odd to him that Han would have arranged this drawer so neatly when all the other were so haphazard, but he really didn't know Han that way. It was a shame he'd never get the chance.

They shut off the lights, slammed the doors and drove off towards the storage space that Dom kept up here. It was time to help get their friend home.

.:.

I had originally planned on putting another scene in this, but my heart wasn't ready to post it. I truly hope that you all love this sequel it is truly a labor of love that I have been working on for all of you that read and reviewed **Ticket to Berlin**.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authoress Notes:** This is a sequel to **Ticket to Berlin** it has been in the works for no joke three years. I am terrified about putting this story out there. This chapter took so much out of me. It hurts. But it is the shotgun blast that gets this story truly started.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Fast and Furious" or any of the characters within. I make no money off this so please do not sue me. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.

**Warnings:** This chapter contains **VIOLENCE. **It is not for the faint of heart.

**I Left My Heart in Rio: Part Two  
**

**November 12, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil: 10:30pm**

She felt her wrist snap under the stomp of his heavy boot and howled in pain unable to contain her cry.

Twenty minutes ago this place was a sanctuary. The apartment had large windows and glass doors that led to balcony outside, which let in natural light during the day and showcased Rio's skyline at night. It was decorated simply with pictures of family and framed drawings done in crayon hanging on the warm colored walls. It contrasted the other apartments in the building that were decorated professionally with million dollar budgets and occupants that stayed in them instead of living in them. This apartment was lived in, it was a home. This home was full of laughter and joy; it smelled like good food and sounded like happy music. This home was a safe refuge from the crazy outside world, but not tonight… Tonight someone exploded into her apartment without warning and she was locked a fight for her life.

It didn't matter how much pain she was in, or how unnaturally her wrist had bent. That broken bone didn't stop her from scrambling for the firearm the assailant had dislodged from her hand. She was a bloody mess: split lip, black eye, most likely broken cheekbone, and now her wrist, but she wouldn't give up. He got a handful of her hair and jerked her up from the ground and slammed her into the wall, the sound of shattering glass from the picture frames ringing in her ears. She gasped for air and attempted to twist her body free from him again.

The dark-haired man punched her in the ribs with his free hand. "Stop struggling" He knew the impact probably broke another two of her ribs and that should finally start quieting her down.

"Go to hell." She spat at him.

He pinned her throat with the hand that had been tangled in her hair. "I don't care how much I have to hurt you, or how long it takes, but you will tell me what I need to know." He leaned a little closer to her and tightened his grip on her neck, but his voice oddly softened to an almost sympathetic tone, "I know you're bleedin' internally. I know how hard my first few blows were here." His opposite hand brushed over the side of her rib cage, almost like a lover's caress. "You are dying."

Her light colored eyes filled with tears and one slipped down her cheek as she tried to force her body to move again.

"Shh. Shh. You won't be able to fight much longer." He looked around the destroyed apartment living room: broken glass, well broken everything, everywhere and blood accenting the walls and furniture like splashes of paint. "I'll let you die in peace if you tell me what I want to know."

She started to shake her head and his grip intensified.

Her small defiance seemed to flip a switch in his personality. The rage he had erupted into her apartment with was rekindled and he through clenched teeth he promised, "If you don't tell me, I'll make you wish for death." He was breathing heavy, his ears turned red as his voice dropped to a growl, "Bitch, I could rape you to death. Is that how you want your body found? You want to be found broken, naked, with your tits cut off?! If you don't tell me what I need to know, right now. I'll make you beg to die."

The brave front she had been clinging onto disappeared and her face reflected pure terror at his threat. She squeaked out the name of city. It was a lie; at least she hoped it was a lie. She begged God for it to be a lie; she didn't want to betray anyone, when nothing she said would save her.

"That's it?! That's all you know?" He snarled, before screeching in her face. "I've already been there! There was nothing for me there! WHY DON'T YOU KNOW?! YOU'RE LYING!" He suddenly stilled again, his calm scaring her far more than his rage, "I know you're lying. She told me you'd lie to me."

She shook her head, tears sliding down her cheeks. She knew he'd never believe her and her judas of a body was going to fail her. She was going to fail the only person that she had left. She turned her head slightly to look out her window at the city. _'Hell of a view for our place here. It's yours, if you want it. Perks of being with a millionaire...'_ A deep male voice and the attached memory echoed in her ears. She allowed the dozens of other good memories to follow behind it, separating herself from this horror and pain. She would detach and let her mind drift to those memories, and just try to slip out of consciousness...

Glass crunched next her head and she glanced sideways at his hand reaching into the shadow frame. There were shards of glass embedded in his fingers, but he didn't seem to care about that or the blood dripping onto the happy image in his hand.

"I'll find the girl."

Her eyes moved frantically from the image to his dark eyes. "Not here" She struggled to speak as her legs started to give out beneath her.

"I know that. She woulda come out to see what was happening what with all the noise we made." He crumpled the photograph in his hand, as he chuckled, "I can wait for…."

He might have continued the threat, but there was a pounding at the door.

"Polícia! Abra a porta! Polícia!"

"Fuck." He slammed the back of her head against the wall as the police started breaking down the door. He retrieved his knife from his back pocket and drove it between her ribs. He grinned at the wet gurgling sound she made in her vain attempt for air. He swiped the blood from her lips and showed it to her, "You shoulda just told me what I wanted." He let her fall to the ground. He sprinted back to the broken balcony doors that he'd crashed through earlier and disappeared into the night.

The two officers burst into the apartment, guns drawn and looking around the apartment. The first one to reach her screamed to his partner to call for medical while he pressed his hands against her wound.

She wanted to tell him that she didn't recognize her attacker, but she knew who he was looking for. She wanted to tell him that he was likely wasting his effort on trying to save her. She wanted to ask him how the hell someone knew that she needed help. But more than any other thing she wanted to beg him not to let her daughter see her like this. She tried to speak and only blood trailed out of her mouth.

He begged her not to talk and squeezed her hand. "Detetive Neves, Você tem que viver." He tried to encourage her to live and screamed for the medic to hurry.

She saw a bright light for a brief moment, before the darkness started to take over and she knew that once she closed her eyes that she would never reopen them. _'I will always watch over you, Love.' _

.:.

He hit the ground with a sickening thud and started to sprint for the street, when a voice called out to him. "Wait, Love, you're forgetting something."

He spun around and felt her hands cup his face as she chided, "You need to change. You're a bloody mess, literally."

His eyes were closed and he smiled, "I woulda forgot."

"You always forget. You've never been much of a planner" She clicked her tongue. "I left you a bag behind the dumpster."

He stripped down and ripped open the bag to grab the fresh, clean clothes. Her favorite Tom Ford perfume filled his nostrils as he buttoned the clean shirt. "It smells like you packed this."

"You bought me a bottle, was I not supposed to open it?"

"I don't mind." He stuffed the bloody clothes into the bag and looked at it uncertainly.

"Burn it, you don't want to leave evidence." She patted the lighter in his shirt pocket as she hugged him from behind.

He sighed and hesitated for a moment before pulling out the lighter and lighting the bag on fire.

"It's just a bag. I'm right here." She encouraged.

He whipped the bag into the dumpster. "Where to next? She said Tokyo. I've been to Tokyo and there was nothing there. I know you said she'd lie, but I don't known…."

" , oh Love, don't get worked up." She hugged him closer, her hair brushing over his neck.

"But…"

"But nothing." She clipped, "You can either go to Miami to chase that Roman guy you identified from the camera or can wait here and find the girl. Make a choice."

He watched the fire burn for a moment. "You soaked it in your perfume, so it would burn better. You always know what to do." He pulled away from her embrace, but grabbed her hand as he moved to leave the alley. "The girl. She'll be better leverage."

With the decision made there was no reason to risk remaining in the alley.

"Put your hand in your pocket, I'll get the glass out when we get to the hotel."

He relinquished her hand begrudgingly and walked out into the street. He brushed by an EMT and a cop, neither paid him any notice. He started singing along to the street band as he went on his way, "She told him to forget the night they met in Rio…And there were tears in her eyes as they danced to a midnight serenade"

.:.

Thank you for the first three reviews, I greatly appreciate them. I hope you enjoyed this part. I'm gonna go cry a little…. What is wrong with my brain? Please review. Thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authoress Notes:** This is a sequel to **Ticket to Berlin** it has been in the works for no joke three years. I am terrified about putting this story out there. If you have not read **Ticket to Berlin** you will be a bit confused.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Fast and Furious" or any of the characters within. I make no money off this so please do not sue me. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.

**I Left My Heart in Rio: Part Three  
**

**November 12, Trans-Pacific Flight: 11:50pm time approx.**

_*Begin Flashback_

_She had been shot before, a few times actually with all the undercover work that she had done in the past. But this was the first time she had been shot, where she was concerned it might be fatal._

_Her head slammed back against the cement wall as the force of the gunshot flung her backwards. Another woman's shrill scream pierced her ears and it kept her alert and aware of how bad this might get. She scrambled back around the corner another shot pepping the wall narrowly missing her._

"_Oh my gawd! Oh my gawd!"_

"_I'm begging you… Stop. Screaming." She looked down at the blood soaking through her shirt. "You're going to completely give away your position."_

"_But…But, you've just been shot!" The other woman argued. "Again, you've been shot again." _

"_The first one was a graze, barely a scratch, but this one is not so good or much better depending on how you look at." _

"_Shouldn't I put pressure on it or something?"_

"_No, you should stay right there, out of harms way." She glanced back at the terrified dark-skinned young woman. "Do you know who these guys are? They seem to be very unhappy with you. And they seem to want to express that unhappiness with bullets." The injured woman re-loaded her pistol._

"_I'm not really sure. I've got a knack for pissing off the wrong people, although they normally don't find me. They could be Russian, maybe?" She shifted uncomfortably. "You don't look good, you're losing color."_

"_Yeah, I'm getting weaker." She admitted, before reassuring, "My back-up should be here soon. I won't let them hurt you, don't worry."_

"_Who are you anyway? I mean not that I don't appreciate you swooping in and rescuing me, but I don't even know your name."_

"_I'm Amy Treach. This was supposed to be the day I resigned from Interpol, but I saw those guys following you. And lucky for both of us, I hadn't turned in my gun and ammo yet." She fired off a shot and heard a thud from further up the alley. She grunted at the gun's recoil and looked down at the blood pooling by her legs, her vision swimming. "Shit."_

"_What it is?" The girl looked around the corner at Amy and gasped as the agent's head drooped down. "Oh gawd, no, no!" She crawled out of her hiding place and up to the agent, "Amy, look at me, open your eyes." When Amy didn't move and her breathing hitched unsteadily, the other girl questioned quietly. "Amy?" _

_A click in front of her drew the terrified girl's attention to the angry man training the pistol at her. "Now we meet face to face, before I shoot you, Ramsey. You should have done us the favor we asked. It would have been a good partnership and you and your little friend would still be alive."_

_As he fired the shot, the world seemed to slow down. Ramsey was pushed left as the small agent sprung back to life firing four shots into the Russian. Amy's body lurched as his shot pierced her chest and she groaned in agony, her body feeling like it had been lit on fire._

"_Amy!"_

'_Ramsey, her name was Ramsey,' Amy thought. Ramsey's voice seemed very far away and it seemed as if the pain was finally going to overtake her._

_ *End Flashback_

.:.

The British-born Chinese woman sat up gasping for air, her eyes wild, and one hand scrambling for the gun that wasn't in her holster while the other one gripped the raised scar over her heart.

The stewardess was eying her nervously, "Are you alright Inspector Treach? You were crying out."

Amy sat back in the first-class seat and rubbed her eyes, "I just don't sleep well on planes. Could you get me some coffee?"

"I think I have some de-caffeinated options."

"No, I need regular coffee." She stood up and stretched as the head stewardess made her way down the aisle to them.

"Inspector Treach." The head stewardess addressed the agent. "You have a message from Interpol. You need to call your technical analyst."

Amy nodded and pulled her bag out from beneath her seat and powered up the phone. She didn't even look up as she prodded, "I still need that coffee."

The woman dialed the number her phone, ignoring the dirty look from the stewardess. "They weren't supped to wake you up." Came the female British voice on the other end of the line.

"They didn't. I just woke up." Amy fished out her tablet and powered it on as well. "What do you have for me?"

"Patience lady, you sound like you need a longer nap."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." She snapped before accepting the coffee and listening to silence of the phone. She sighed, "I'm sorry, Ramsey, I know you're worried about me, but I'll be fine. Just over-tired. Tokyo was pretty much a dead end with a body that looks too much like an accident to build a case, although I know it was him."

"The rental car was in his name, that's something."

"Circumstantial, at best. Look, my head is killing me and I have been in the air more than I've been on the ground the last three days, can you just…"

"Amy, it been four days, you're forgettin' how many times you've crossed the International Date Line." There was another pause before Ramsey continued. "Seriously though, did you get any sleep?"

"A couple of hours." Amy opened her e-mail and watched the progress bar crawl as it attempted to load. "Dreams are back, I'm not really a fan of sleeping."

Ramsey clicked her tongue, "Did you take your meds?"

"I can't when I'm working a case. They make me odd."

"No nearly dying made you odd. What you went through… I'm worried about you." Ramsey clicked on her keyboard, isolating the phones in case anyone was listening. "You answered the phone 'Moji' when I called to get you on this plane."

Amy pinched the bridge of her nose, "It's the first lapse I've had in months. I just have to get through this last case and the Eisenberg trial should be done so I can retire. Talk to me about Brazil."

"Well his passport dinged at the International airport 10:30am local time."

"Hence me being on this 25 hour flight… oh hell. How long is my layover?"

"Lady, you never have to worry when I've got your back. As long as this plane is on time then you'll have a 45 minute layover in Hawaii and I will make sure you don't miss that connecting flight."

"Ramsey, if there is anything that you are technologically going to do to make sure I don't miss that flight… don't tell me."

"Chicken."

"Plausible deniability." Amy flicked through the digital case files on her tablet. "What's changed in twelve hours?"

"Did you get the pictures that I sent you?"

"It's trying to load." Amy took a sip of the coffee, "Wow, even the coffee is better in first class. Accounting is gonna have your ass; unless you did something else that you are not gonna tell me about."

"Just looking out for you." Ramsey dismissed, before continuing, "Amy, you saved my life and you weren't technically even on the job. As long as you are working for Interpol, I am working for Interpol."

Amy snorted, "So I'm looking at a destroyed living-room and another picture trying to load."

"That's the important one." Ramsey's clicking over her keyboard filled the silence. "Tell me about this guy. When did you meet him? What's his deal? 'Cause it looks like he just killed someone in Rio."

"William Keating, born in Dublin to Adian Keating a gun runner for Eamon Kelly, but was never involved directly with the Kelly organization or the IRA. William was hired by Brigham Collins, may he still be burning in hell, and worked for him for five years, until Berlin when he disappeared after his arrest."

"Boring. I read that in his file, you tell me about _him_."

Amy twisted her earring, "He only drank American whiskey when he celebrated. He was the second best motorcycle rider I ever met. He was fast on his feet and always planned two steps ahead. And he was completely in love with Damon Cambers, who loved him right back." She cleared her throat as the picture finished loading, "What the hell?!"

"Picture loaded, huh?"

"Where did you get this?"

"Rio police just loaded into their database. I have an algorithm that searches through databases for the shapes. I just uploaded the shape from that weird weapon mark from the Collins murder and let my crawlers do the work."

"It's not legal."

"Legal-ish?"

"We'll worry about that later." Amy flicked back to the other picture, "Who was the victim?"

"Detective Elena Neves, worked the white collar division of the Rio police department. I'm trying to get more info on her right now, but damn has she got a des res, totally posh."

"Is that where she was killed?"

"Yup, her apartment in Ipanema, but the department hasn't officially declared her dead."

"If he attacked her with the same weapon that he killed Brigham with, then she's dead. Did you get the download from customs?"

"Yeah, but he kept his face away from the cameras again. I don't know why it matters, I mean he's using his own passport." More furious clicking of keys banged in Amy's ears.

"I just have a hard time believing that he's doing this. I know that losing a loved one can drive someone to revenge, but…"

"Oh gawd, this cop has a daughter. She's missing; they have all the cops in the city looking for her."

"How old?"

"Like two and half…" Ramsey's voice cracked with emotion, "you don't think he'd hurt a little girl, do you?"

"I don't know, Ramsey. I don't know him anymore. I haven't known William, since I went over Brigham's autopsy and saw all the torture that he inflicted."

"Excuse me Inspector; we are getting ready to land." The stewardess interrupted, "I need you to power down your devices."

"Ramsey…"

"I heard, Amy. I'll do some research on Neves, find out how she fits into this, and get a hold of the Rio PD about your arrival. You get something to eat and some sleep, so you can function."

.:.

Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and alerts I greatly appreciate them. You will love the next part, I promise. I just had to get this part done so all the set-up was done in the right order. I revealed the timeline, but if you blinked you might have missed it. Please review. Thank you for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authoress Notes:** This is a sequel to **Ticket to Berlin** it has been in the works for no joke three years. I am terrified about putting this story out there. If you have not read **Ticket to Berlin** you will be a bit confused. I know I've gone forever. I got married. There were things, not kid things, but things. I'm halfway through the next part. I will update as soon as I can. I'm so incredibly sorry that it's taken so long.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Fast and Furious" or any of the characters within. I make no money off this so please do not sue me. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.

**I Left My Heart in Rio: Part Four**

**November 13, Azores Island: 11:00pm**

"Hate funerals." Dominic Toretto sighed as his brother-in-law fished for his keys.

"Yeah that and the 35 hours in the air each way." Brian O'Conner paused before unlocking the door. "What do you want to tell the girls?"

"The truth." Dom shrugged looking out at the ocean view that his sister got to enjoy on a daily basis. "Funerals are miserable and I'm glad we opted to not take two sick kids on a plane for that long."

"You talk to Hector?"

"Yeah, glad he was willing to help out and pick up Han to take him to the rest of his family. He's a good guy."

They stood on the porch in the quiet before Brian dared to mention what had been weighing on his mind. "It was weird that she wasn't there, ya know? I kinda figured she'd show up, even after everything." Brian shouldered his carry-on bag and questioned, "Did you ever get ahold of her?"

"No." Dom's answer was clipped, "I left a message, but I haven't heard from her since that weekend you guys rescued Letty."

"I don't think Han ever really got over her vanishing like that." Brian stood next to Dom. "Maybe that's why she stayed away."

Dom made a noncommittal sound and let his eyes wander to the light source away from the house. "Don't matter now either way. Can't apologize to the dead."

Brian winced knowing how personally Dom took Gisele's abrupt departure from their family. "It's just the garage light. I'll get it; go get some sleep, man. I'll see ya in the morning."

.:.

Dom nodded and let himself inside the already quiet house. He glanced at the clock on the wall as he passed it: 11, no wonder it was quiet. The door to Viola's room was ajar slightly and he looked in on his niece, expecting to see AJ in a sleeping bag on the floor, but his son's bedding was empty. He continued his way down the hall to the guest room and opened the door. He set his bag down next to Letty's and paced over to the bed she was sleeping on, with their son nestled in with her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and smiled when she opened her eyes.

"Feels like your fever broke." He observed.

She nodded sleepily. "Earlier today. AJ's broke last night, but he's still kinda out of it." She kissed AJ's temple, rolling her eyes at her son's angry growl in his sleep. "Can you pick him up? My arm's asleep and I need a shower."

He picked up their son and allowed Letty stretch out and climb out of bed. "You want him in bed with us?"

"No, he was trying to wait up for you. Go ahead and put him in Vi's room." She patted his shoulder. "Come take a shower with me. You could use it."

.:.

Brian opened the door to the garage and to his surprise he found his wife. "Mia?"

She turned around to face him, tears streaking down her face. She rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck hugging him tightly.

"Brian, I'm so tired of burying people." She murmured

He pulled her down to sit with him on the workbench seat. "I know, baby. I really do. I think it was just an accident, though. I didn't see any evidence otherwise at the crash site or in the reports." He continued to run his hands up and down her arms, "Why are you out in the garage this late?"

She sniffed, "I didn't want to wake the kids up. I kept breaking down and they were already sleep, so…"

Brian nodded and kissed her temple, "Is Vi feeling any better?"

"Yeah, her fever broke today. It was just the flu." She nestled herself closer to her husband enjoying his warmth, "She kept some food down finally."

"That's good. I felt awful leaving you with a bunch of sickos." He patted her thigh, "I'm surprised you didn't get sick."

She shrugged, "I got a good immune system. I think Letty had the worst of it. She hasn't kept anything down for three day, but…"

"But?" Brian prodded. Dom had been worried about Letty's reaction to being left behind.

"I think she could have eaten yesterday, but she was really upset about Han." Mia folded her arms over her chest. "Did you guys see Gisele?"

"No, and I think it was for the best. Dom's still pretty pissed at her for up leaving with no explanation." Brian tucked a strand of Mia's hair behind her ear and absent-mindedly ran his hand down her arm.

"She's struggling." She remarked softly as she captured his hand with hers.

"Gisele?"

"No Letty." Mia shook her head. "This isn't the life she wanted. I mean she loves Dom and AJ, but she never wanted kids." She released his hand and twisted her wedding ring, "She thinks being a mom makes her weak. She's trying to hide her frustration and I know she hasn't talked to Dom about any of it. She feels trapped. I'm worried about them."

"Are they having problems?"

"No, I don't think Dom has any idea where her head's at. I talked to her about school for AJ and she bit my head off." She sighed, "I just don't want to lose her again."

"We won't." Brian kissed her temple. "You will keep helping her and they'll get through it together."

Mia nodded and let herself be still in Brian's arms. She could hear the ocean through the open window and her son snoring through the baby monitor. She was trying to focus on the good that was here and now, but her heart hurt. She wished she could have gone to pay her last respects to her friend. "Dom said that Hector was going to help get Han to his family plot?"

"Yeah," Brian affirmed. "The plane isn't leaving until noon tomorrow. Dom and I figured that you and Letty could say goodbye at the airport."

Fresh tears sprung into her eyes, "Thank you." She hugged him tighter.

"We should probably go back inside."

"Not yet." She shook her head. "Can we just be here for a little longer? I just want to be here with you."

"No problem." He slipped his hand under her shirt and rubbed her stomach, grounding himself by physically connecting with her.

"I'll have to add another flower." Mia lifted her right leg and examined her tattoo. The ivy and flower pattern started on her foot with two intertwined lilies for her parents and moved up her ankle with different colored lilies for Jesse and Vince. "You think he'd object to orange? Like a tiger lily?"

Brian knew that the color of the flower was just as important as the flower itself on her memorial tattoo. White trumpet lilies for her parents and pure love that Mia remembered from both of them. Asiatic lilies for Jesse and Vince: Jesse's was an unnaturally brilliant purple (because Jesse was unnaturally brilliant) and Vince's was pale pink.

When Brian asked about why pink for Vince and Mia recounted the memory of her first dance. Her father had already passed away and with Dom in jail it left Vince to play big brother and Letty to play mom. Dances were not a big deal to Letty, so when the last dance of the school year rolled around and neither of the girls had been asked to go Letty laughed it off and was grateful to 'not have to wear some hideous thing to get groped in'. But Mia had wanted to go to the silly dance, even if it was just with her school friends. Vince must have heard her crying and decided to do something about it. What he did to get the money, Mia never had asked, but two days before the dance, Vince came home with two tickets to the dance and two dresses. He shoved the black dress at Letty with the tickets and gave Mia a pale pink dress with a hopeful smile. _'Pink's good for you right?'_ Mia squealed happily and hugged him tightly. She tried the dress on immediately, twirling around the living room and laughing out loud for the first time in months. Letty was less impressed, with the dress-wearing and dancing, but accompanied her little sister to keep her out of trouble. Pale pink was Vince's color; because that was moment he stopped being just another one of Dom's friends and became her big brother.

"Orange would be good." He confirmed, thinking Han would've appreciated the strong color. "My tattooed girl."

She grabbed his wrist and traced the bright blue hibiscus flower with their daughter's name framing it. "I think; you don't have any room to criticize."

He looked down at her, "Criticize? Naw, I think it's sexy. I'm with a dangerous criminal, it's exciting." He waggled his eyebrows at her and she let out a laugh, which she instantly covered her mouth to muffle. He goaded her further, "I was innocent young cop that got seduced when he went undercover."

"Seduced? Does Dom know how you feel?" Mia yelped and tried to jump away from Brian, but he pinned her against the wall of the garage.

"I told you, he's a bonus. You drew me in, you." He captured her in a slow kiss, his hands tangling in her hair. When he broke away he leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you, Mia."

"I love you too." She pulled him down for another kiss and gasped as his hands slipped under her shirt.

"This okay?" He questioned breathlessly as he nuzzled against her neck.

"Mhmm." She was lost in the sensation, enjoying the moment of being a woman with her husband. The pair might have continued, but the baby monitor spiked out their son's angry cry.

Brian smirked, "I don't suppose that's an 'I want attention' cry?"

"Nope." Mia shook her head and disentangled herself from him, but held out her hand to him. "That is absolutely hungry."

The couple made their way back into the house, when their son's cries abruptly stopped.

Mia quick stepped into the room, trying to swallow down her panic. Brian was hot on her heels, but what they saw made both of them smile. Viola was sitting in the crib with her brother rubbing his chest.

"Shhh, Benji, no cry. Shh, Sis is here." Viola was intent on her mission of calming her brother, until she saw Brian. "Daddy!" She squealed out offer her hands up to him.

"Shh, Bug, you're gonna wake up everybody in the house." Brian scooped up his little girl, while Mia picked up Benjamin. "You got him?"

"Yeah." Mia leaned forward and kissed her daughter's, "Goodnight, Vi. Thank you for helping with Benji."

"Come on, Bug. It's way past your bedtime." Brian carried her out of the nursey. "Benji wake you up?"

"Uh-huh." She hugged his neck tightly, "I missed you. I need airs."

Brian made his way outside unto the back deck and settled into one of the chairs with Viola on his lap. "This better, Bug?"

"Yeah." The three-year-old drew in several deep breaths of sea air, before demanding. "Need our picture."

He smiled and handed his phone to his daughter, who opened the camera app and took several selfies of them, before turning the camera on him. "Any of those any good?" He questions as she started looking through the pictures.

Viola bit her lower lip, concentrating harder than any three and a half year ever should, before selecting one of them smiling together. "This one."

"That is a good one. We'll send it to Uncle Rome tomorrow."

"I asked Santa for a camera. Mommy helped me write a letter." She informed him, flicking through the cameras options and taking random pictures of the beach below.

"Did she? That was nice." Brian kissed the top of her head, "We need to get you to bed, Bug."

"Okay." She sighed, "Can AJ sleep in Benji's room? AJ's messy, he doesn't put toys away."

Brian held back his chuckle at his daughter's compulsive cleaning nature. "We'll figure something out tomorrow, alright?"

.:.

Letty loved showers and it didn't matter how long they were, in those five to thirty minutes, she could be herself. She wasn't anyone's mom or wife, she was just Letty. She loved her son and Dom, but she missed being just her, sometimes. She told Dom that when she was in the shower she wanted to be left alone, no exceptions. Unless the building they were in was going to collapse whatever it was could wait until she was done. If she hadn't invited him to join her, he would have waiting on the bed for her to get out. Being together full time took some getting used to, because even when they were together they were constantly going off to do their own thing. Now they were focused on traveling the world with AJ and it was a complete different experience then traveling on their own and intersecting. She loved it and hated it at the time. She wondered if she was allowed to take a vacation by herself just to feel like she was her own person again. Then again, she didn't think she'd ever want to be away from her son that long. She heard footsteps outside the door as she worked shampoo into her hair.

She turned the heat down slightly, didn't want him complaining about the 'flesh-melting' water temperature. She was massaging the shampoo out of her hair when the door opened and breeze fluttered the curtain. She turned her back to the spray and listened to her husband drop his clothes to the floor. He invaded her spaced instantly, wrapping his arms around her wet body and kissing her.

"Missed you." He growled against her lips. "Hate flying. Hate being away from you and AJ." He tangled his fingers in her hair and deepened the kiss. His hands weren't in her hair for long before they stated to wander down her body massaging her back.

"I know." She confirmed when he let her catch her breath. "I was worried about you. Find out anything?"

He shook his head and leaned his forward against her shoulder. "Feels like we're being hunted."

"Oh no, papa." She ran her nails over his scalp. "Dom. Dom, look at me."

He raised his head and looked her in the eye.

"We are not being hunted. It's just shitty luck. No one is after us." She paused and smirked despite everything, "Well expected for LAPD, the FBI, Interpool, the police in the DR, France, Germany, and Rio…"

"I'm not wanted in France or Germany." His eyebrow arched.

"I am, and I'm not wanted in Rio, I thought I'd save time and combine our wanted posters." She reached for her conditioner and didn't protest when he took the bottle from her.

He started working it through her hair, "I'm not wanted in Rio either."

"How's that possible? You and Brian played demolition derby with a bank vault and the entire city. Saw it on YouTube."

"Elena." He removed his hands from her at the mention of the other woman.

Letty rolled her eyes at his reaction, and hooked her leg around his and pulled him tight against her. "You fucked her when you thought I was dead. We've been over it and I'm over it. I'm not threatened by some blonde cop. I even woulda played nice when I met her, if she hadn't disappeared."

Dom backed her up against the shower wall and she hissed at the cold tiles. "Somehow, I doubt that."

"Well we'll never really know." She slid her hands down his abs and smiled at his reaction. "You should show me how much you missed me."


End file.
